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Holly Hollers, Lucky Submits - UPDATE February 24, 2019

Still learning here at this end. Why would Holly hibernate with Lucky, her longtime play buddy, if she was going to react like this to him?Scott, family and his dogs I’m not sure I heard all the sounds right or saw enough of the body language, but see what you think. In the first quarter minute, I might have heard clacking, which is a sign of fear—I think from Holly. It sounded close. Then I saw Lucky moving toward the entrance—probably to eat snow like Ted does. Then, at 22 seconds, Holly lets go with a loud and unusual sound that came through as a roar. Lucky put his head to the ground in total submission. I believe I heard quiet moans that were not near the microphone, so I believe they were from Lucky, which would fit with his posture of submission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1OxsyhZOJs

We’ll see how they get along in spring. Will Lucky still like Holly in mating season? Or will he bond with Tasha? We’ll see what happens.

A project I’d like to see happen is a doubling of the enclosure size with the new addition having two big sections—making three sections in all, including the current enclosure. We’d have a new cub or two in one of the new sections. The ultimate goal is an elevated walkway so everyone can see all three sections—in addition to behind-the-scenes tours that would include all three sections.

This was a day of strong wind with temperatures that fell from 23°F to 2°F. Scott finished the Wolftrack Classic dog sled race about 12:15 PM when the temperature was still about 12°F, which was not cold enough to make Scott wear a hat. He came in 18th out of 40.

Thank you for all you do.Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

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